Ex-NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly claimed Sunday that New York City’s quality of life “has really deteriorated” as he railed against subway crime, a shortage of cops, anti-public-safety policies, reckless scooters and the migrant crisis.
“I met a man from London a couple of weeks ago. I asked him what he thought about New York. … He said, ’It looks like there’s nobody in charge.’ That’s exactly my feeling,” said Kelly, who served for 12 years as police chief under then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg and previously under the late Mayor David Dinkins, on the “Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM radio.
The Big Apple’s former top cop said the visitor specifically complained about migrants milling outside the Roosevelt Hotel intake center in Manhattan and “mentally deranged” homeless people on the street, while lamenting that many items were locked away in stores because of rampant shoplifting.
“We know subway crime is still very much an issue, and it’s keeping people off of the subways,” Kelly added to host John Catsimatidis, noting a random murder on the D train a few days ago.
He said subway ridership is still below what it was before the COVID-19 outbreak and questioned whether the controversial new $15 congestion toll to drive into Midtown will actually persuade more people to become straphangers in the current climate.
“People are afraid to go on the subways. [Transit officials] think that congestion pricing is going to force [commuters] on the subway. We’re going to see,” said Kelly, 82.
“It’s a bad time,” he said of the city. “The quality of life in New York has really deteriorated. Scooters are everywhere. They’re on the sidewalks. They’re going through red lights. You have to look 360 degrees before you cross the street.
“I’m pessimistic, certainly, about the short-term situation as far as New York is concerned.”
He said the current environment is a double whammy because it makes it difficult to recruit people to become police officers, noting that the department is understaffed.
“The cops are working hard. The Police Department is way short of police officers,” said Kelly, the longest-serving police commissioner in the city’s history. “It’s been hemorrhaging police officers actually since the death of George Floyd.
“They can’t recruit officers. People don’t want to become a cop these days. They know the restrictions. They know that police officers have been demonized and vilified throughout the country, but certainly in New York as well. They see the assaults on police officers. There are no consequences.”
He said the NYPD’s hands are tied when monitoring sometimes violent protests — and that Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, is partly to blame.
“The city just agreed to a consent decree which is absolutely ludicrous. It ties the hands of police officers trying to police demonstrations. It ends the practice of kettling to help move demonstrators into a particular area . I have no idea why they did this. The mayor said it was a bad idea, but he signed it anyway because the lawyers told him to do it,” Kelly said.
“That’s not leadership. That’s not what you’re supposed to do, but that’s where we are.”
He noted that murder and shootings are down but that crime is up in other categories.
He said the migrant crisis has really put a strain on the city, too, pointing to the Adams administration recently agreeing to pay millions of dollars under a controversial no-bid contract to provide pre-paid credit cards to asylum-seekers, as reported by The Post.
“This is ludicrous. When are we going to say, `No?’ When is this mayor going to say, ‘Enough is enough?’ He’s so concerned about his political career,” Kelly said.
“The migrants should end up in some place like Delaware,” added Kelly, referring to the home state of President Biden. When are we going to come to our senses and take this problem head on?”
He also criticized a new state law preventing licensed gun holders from carrying firearms in “sensitive locations” such as Times Square, arguing that only benefits criminals.
“It is this phony effort to have gun control, which makes no sense,” Kelly said. “Obviously, criminals are not going to obey that. It’s only if a licensed carrying individual is caught with a weapon. They’ll get a summons or a fine. It’s silly stuff.”
Neither Mayor Adams’ office nor the NYPD immediately responded to Post requests for comment Sunday.
